Displaying items by tag: negotiations

Post-Brexit access to UK waters for EU fishermen is a major hurdle to a trade deal between the UK and Europe. Michel Barnier had a private dinner with UK’s Brexit negotiator, David Frost, at Downing Street on 8th July. It is believed they discussed UK’s fishing rights over a meal of halibut and asparagus. The meeting comes after it emerged Mr Barnier had told a House of Lords select committee in June that the bloc could water down its stance on fishing if the UK also agrees to compromise. The UK insists British fishing boats have priority as it pushes for a new scientific approach based on how many fish are in domestic waters. If both sides dig their heels in on their positions there will be no discussion on fisheries, and therefore no agreement on trade.

Brexit talks started in earnest on 15 June with an online meeting between Boris Johnson and EU leaders. There are only six months left to negotiate, sign and seal the UK's future relationship with its biggest and closest trade partner, but the talks have all but stalled due to disagreements on fisheries. Politicians and business leaders in the UK and Europe are calling for negotiations to be prolonged in the light of the pandemic. The UK originally had until June to extend the transition period, but now a statement says that the EU and UK plan ‘to intensify the talks in July and create the most conducive conditions for concluding and ratifying a deal before the end of 2020: this should include, if possible, finding an early understanding on the principles underlying any agreement.’

David Frost, Britain’s trade deal negotiator, has warned the Cabinet that Brussels talks are heading for collapse. He told ministers to ‘take the moral high ground’ when speaking to their counterparts across the Channel in the face of Brussels stubbornness. He urged them to step up their ‘no deal’ planning in case talks over a new trading arrangement break down. Downing Street is preparing to issue warnings that the UK is heading for an ‘Australia-style deal’ - which in reality means tariffs on imported and exported goods under World Trade Organisation terms. Boris Johnson is expected to tell the EU27 to set new rules for their negotiator Michel Barnier, otherwise any hopes of a deal fade. If progress is not made at the next online UK-EU negotiators meeting there is talk in Whitehall of a British walkout. A senior Government source said, ‘Breakdown is entirely possible.’

Currently, Britain will remain under EU’s rules until 31 December, but the withdrawal agreement allows for a one- or two-year extension if both sides can reach an agreement by 30 June. This gives both sides more time to negotiate a trade deal after talks were halted due to the coronavirus crisis. EU diplomats expect the Prime Minister to ask for a delay, but Downing Street remains resolute in its bid to complete Brexit by year end. Any delay would require a new treaty - another lengthy divorce deal. A Flextension for an extra few weeks was ruled out by Brussels, enraging Brexit supporters. The IMF said that the UK and the EU should not ‘add to uncertainty’ by refusing to extend the period to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal: see

Britain has legally entered a 'transition period', and is free to pursue trade deals with other countries immediately while hammering out terms of future EU relationships. Boris Johnson said that Britain will not obey Brussels rules to get a trade deal while Brussels demands that the UK give access to fishing waters. They are on another collision course. Before trade talks can begin in earnest they must agree a negotiating mandate, spell out their red lines and be finalised by early March. Meanwhile, trade tensions rise as the UK hires more patrol boats to keep out EU fishing fleets ahead of a potential showdown over access. Pray for the 40 officials, called 'Taskforce Europe', leading negotiations for the UK. They are led by one-time business lobbyist and diplomat David Frost, who will negotiate directly with Michel Barnier. In April/May UK trade talks with the EU and other nations are expected to intensify even more. See also

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for three years. Proposed legislation for an Irish language act and reforming the assembly's controversial veto system are among the key sticking points in ongoing talks. The DUP has been accused of holding up a deal. Sinn Féin's Declan Kearney said on 9 January that the situation is at the point where closure must be found. After three days of talks, the text of a draft deal has been shown to the DUP and Sinn Féin, but not yet to the smaller parties, who feel they are being left out again. Some think that the two main parties have done enough negotiating, and a final call needs to be made. Since Stormont collapsed, civil servants have run day-to-day operations. In July the Government extended a law that gives civil servants flexibility to take certain decisions, but that runs out on 13 January.

Kevin Meagher, a former special advisor to Northern Ireland’s Labour party, has said that Boris Johnson is trying to ‘look down the barrel of the European Commission to see if there is any wiggle room for him’ as he tries to negotiate a backstop which only applies to Northern Ireland and avoids a hard border between the UK and EU. Let us pray for an answer that only God can bring about. May there be a frictionless open border agreed upon by every British, Irish and European politician.

Waves of prayer continue to rise for the governance of God’s Kingdom to be in Brexit debates and decisions. On 10 April the EU summit in Brussels pressed a restart button for a possible further six months of discussions. Pray for an effective Christian presence and influence in all UK deliberations; may gracious politicians be quick to listen and slow to anger. Pray for our leaders who know Christ to give wise explanations for their reasoning, so that God’s values are listened to, understood and adhered to by others. May the Christian groups in each of the political parties grow in influence, making many positive contributions in all future negotiations and decision-making. Pray for your constituency MP to cope with public office stress. May Christian MPs, peers, and staff be salt and light in the corridors of power, so that integrity, truth and compassion are interlaced through British politics.

The US president called Brussels ‘a brutal trading partner’ and criticised the EU's tough treatment of Britain after it gave the UK a further extension at the special Brexit summit. He finished his critique on a philosophical note, ‘Sometimes in life you have to let people breathe before it all comes back to bite you!’ Brexit talks remain locked, and Brussels has put more pressure on the UK to shift its position. Before the deadlock, former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC that allowing a delay weakens the UK’s hand in the talks. Meanwhile many economists believe that as the EU has suffered monetary stagnation and enormous waves of migration, Brussels does not want to lose the UK, its second largest economy and financial centre.

Theresa May was handed a two-week deadline to resuscitate her Brexit deal last night and pledged to go back to Brussels to demand changes to the Irish backstop, with only 59 days to go until exit day. But within minutes of the Commons result, the European council president, Donald Tusk, announced that the EU was not prepared to reopen the deal. Steve Baker, the deputy chair of the backbench European Research Group, announced that its members could still reject any renegotiated deal she brought back. ‘A vote for the Brady amendment is a vote to see if the PM can land a deal that will work. If not then we are not committed,’ he said. Pray for the swirl of media comments around Brexit to be free from conjectures and distressing summaries.